Using a QR Code Scavenger Hunt game in FLT

Aim: to introduce and to evaluate the efficiency of a QR Code Scavenger Hunt

game as an interactive tool to advance the educational process and students’
learning experience via assessment and feedback.

Objectives:
● to create the QR Code Scavenger Hunt game
● to ensure the correspondence to the educational content and learning
objectives of the course
● to conduct the game in educational process of the 8th grade according to
the Syllabus
● to appraise the effectiveness of the game through assessment and
feedback

What is a QR Code Scavenger Hunt game?

It is an engaging game-based activity that encourages children to learn a foreign
language by utilizing QR Codes as hints. Students who participate in this game
scan QR Codes with phones or tablets to perform certain tasks and get clues to
the next QR Code with another activity.

What are the benefits of this game?

● It is interactive and engaging. Utilizing this game in the classroom
promotes team work, where students have to make collaborative efforts in
order to perform certain tasks. It is closely interlaced with the
collaborative language teaching method which makes it efficient in
achieving positive results.
● It facilitates problem solving and critical thinking skills, which
accelerates the effectiveness of solving the problems by means of using
authentic language. Moreover, the given tasks provide the opportunity to
foster critical thinking skills, where the secondary school students have to
analyze the existing prompts to reach the next destination.
● It increases motivation. It is evident that when students are motivated,
they are inspired to permeate deeply into the knowledge that they gained
during the lesson. Furthermore, when physical-based activities are
organized during the classes, the secondary school students are more
 concentrated on perceiving information that fully corresponds to the Total
Physical Response teaching method.
● It facilitates team building and establishes relationships. The game tackles
the problem with cultural barriers in cross cultural communication.
Students of different backgrounds face the necessity of collaborative
work, which results in the extension of perseverance and reduction of
cultural barriers.

The procedure:
1. The possibility of applying a QR Code Scavenger Hunt game in FLT.
The material was taken from the Syllabus of 8th grade, namely Unit 7
from a book Solutions, Intermediate level, 3rd edition. The title of the
unit - “Artists”.
2. Scrutinizing some applications such as Loquiz, QR Treasure Hunt
generator and Goosechase. It was revealed that among all of the existing
free applications, the most applicable, convenient and diversified in tasks
is Loquiz.
3. While learning a foreign language, secondary school students have to
scan QR code, perceive the task and get the prompt to find out the
location where the next QR code is placed.
4. This game can be adjusted to teaching all main activities: speaking,
listening, reading and mastering grammar and vocabulary.

The procedure of the experiment:

The game was conducted on the base of the National School of Physics
and Math in Astana in the 8th grade. The number of students in both groups is
26. One of the groups was engaged in performing tasks in a traditional way
using a textbook and a presentation, whereas the experimental group dealt with
the QR Code Scavenger Hunt game to complete the same tasks.

The result of the experiment:

It is observable that the results of the students who were engaged in the
process of the memorization of vocabulary, enhancing grammar and improving
reading, listening and speaking skills in the first group were relatively higher
than in the second one.
Conclusion: To deduce, applying a QR Code Scavenger Hunt game in FLT
enhances foreign language learning outcomes due to the improvement of
cognitive function, memory retention, attention span, motivation and all four
main activities.